Monday, August 3, 1998 Last modified at 12:39 a.m. on Monday, August 3, 1998

Dow train mishaps increase

FREEPORT (AP) - Train derailments at the massive Dow Chemical Co. complex here have increased sharply over the past two years, The Facts newspaper of Brazoria County reported Sunday.

Company records show that since the beginning of 1997, Dow train cars have derailed 60 times inside the massive petrochemical complex that has 80 production facilities and 60 miles of track. That's more than in the previous four years combined, when a total of 51 derailments were recorded at the complex, the newspaper reported.

The company's feedstocks and products, including vinyl chloride and other toxic chemicals, enter and leave by train.

While most of the incidents were minor, causing no injuries or chemical leaks, Dow officials want to put a halt to them.

"We certainly agree that there are more derailments than we'd like to have," said Bill Huff, Dow's land transportation manager.

Warren Flatau, a spokesman for the Federal Railroad Commission, said he did not know anything specifically about Dow or the company's rail operations. But ordinarily, he said, the rise in derailments "is definitely something we would look into" if it were reported.

Dow records indicate that throughout the 1990s, annual derailments hovered around 15, with 10 in 1995 and 11 in 1996.

In 1997, the number tripled to 33. Huff said he tried operational changes, including a 5 mph rail speed limit. The company also fired four rail employees in the last year for safety reasons, he said.

But the problem has only gotten worse. Company records show 27 derailments to date this year.

"There's a root cause for each one of them, and it's kind of like asking about a car accident," Huff said. "Each one of them is different."

Huff said part of the blame could rest with Union Pacific, Dow's national rail carrier.

Union Pacific has been besieged by delays and congestion all year, and Huff said the scheduling problems sometimes flood Dow's rail system with more cars than it can handle. Huff compared Dow's rail system to a 50-car parking lot.

"If you put 150 cars in there and they're parked next to each other and back and forth where you've got to move three cars to get one car out, you're going to have a lot more accidents. "Sometimes we have to move eight cars to get one car out."

Union Pacific spokesman John Bromley said he did not know anything about the derailments at Dow. Union Pacific spokesman Mark Davis told The Associated Press Sunday that customers, not the railroad company, are responsible for any derailments that occur on their property.

Huff told The Associated Press he could not provide more specific information about where exactly the derailments occurred inside the complex that employs 5,000 Dow Chemical workers and 2,000 contract workers.

Earlier this month, Dow settled a lawsuit with Union Pacific in which Dow alleged the chronic delays cost it $25 billion. Dow said at the time that Union Pacific's on-time performance had improved dramatically in recent months.

"Unfortunately, that improved performance by the UP has led to increased congestion for us within the plant," Huff said.